''Ambrosina'' is a genus in the family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

that consists of only one species, ''Ambrosina bassii'', and the only genus in the tribe Ambrosineae. This species is the smallest terrestrial

aroid The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also k ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, growing only to 8 cm tall. It is usually found growing in woodlands on north faces of hillsides and in humus soil that is covering

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. It is distributed in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, southern mainland

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Description

''Ambrosina bassii'' has oval leaves that are 3.5 to 6 cm long and resemble the leaves of many

seedlings. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is 2.5 cm long bent over and has an unusual

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

. The

is shaped like an egg and is greenish brown with dots on it. Inside the egg shaped

is divided two chambers. In one chamber is contained a single female flower and in the other are 8 to 10 male flowers. The seeds have an

elaiosome Elaiosomes ( ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes that attract ...

.Bown, Deni (2000). ''Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family''. Timber Press , pages= 141-142, . However, seeds are rarely formed, as this species exhibits a low reproductive rate.

Pollen

The inaperturate pollen grains are 26–50 μm big. It disperses as a single grain (monad).Halbritter, H. (2016, November 3). ''Ambrosina bassii''. PalDat - Palynological Database an Online Publication on Recent Pollen. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.paldat.org/pub/Ambrosina_bassii/301765

Population genetics

Ambrosina is the only representative of its genus and is quite unique. It has been shown that it has high heterozygosity, as it has an average of two loci per allele. The data represents that genetic variation attributes to differences among populations from different geographical territories. Also, the local anthropogenic fragmentation has caused no time for genetic drift or interbreeding to erode genetic variation, this eventually resulted in generating differences between populations. The

effective population size The effective population size (''N'e'') is the size of an idealised population that would experience the same rate of genetic drift as the real population. Idealised populations are those following simple one- locus models that comply with ass ...

is low in natural populations.Quilichini, A., Torre, A., & Gibernau, M. (2005)
"Preliminary data on the biology and reproduction of ''Ambrosina bassii'' L.(Araceae) in Corsica."
Aroideana, 28, 37–42.

Phylogeny

It is closely related to the genera ''Arisarum'', ''Peltandra'', and ''Typhonodorum''. ''Ambrosina'' is the sister group to ''Arisarum'', from which it separated about 46.1 Million years ago.Mansion, G., Rosenbaum, G., Schoenenberger, N., Bacchetta, G., Rosselló, J. A., & Conti, E. (2008)
"Phylogenetic analysis informed by geological history supports multiple, sequential invasions of the Mediterranean Basin by the angiosperm family Araceae."
Systematic Biology, 57(2), 269–285. The precise relationships are displayed in the following cladogram:

Taxonomy

Species

The genus is monotypic and only consists of ''Ambrosina bassii''.

Varieties

The following three varieties have been described: *''Ambrosina bassii'' var. ''angustifolia'' Guss. *''Ambrosina bassii'' var. ''maculata'' (Ucria) Parl. *''Ambrosina bassii'' var. ''reticulata'' (Tineo) Parl. However, none of them are accepted.

Former species

Multiple species have been moved from the genus ''Ambrosina'' to ''

Cryptocoryne ''Cryptocoryne'' is a genus of aquatic plants from the family Araceae. The genus is naturally distributed in tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia and New Guinea. The English common name "water trumpet" refers to their inflorescence, a spad ...

'': *''Ambrosina ciliaris'' Spreng. is a synonym of ''Cryptocoryne ciliata'' var. ''ciliata'' *''Ambrosina ciliata'' Roxb. is a synonym of ''

Cryptocoryne ciliata ''Cryptocoryne'' is a genus of aquatic plants from the family Araceae. The genus is naturally distributed in tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia and New Guinea. The English common name "water trumpet" refers to their inflorescence, a spad ...

'' (Roxb.) Schott *''Ambrosina retrospiralis'' Roxb. is a synonym of '' Cryptocoryne retrospiralis'' (Roxb.) Kunth *''Ambrosina roxburghiana'' Voigt is a synonym of ''Cryptocoryne retrospiralis'' (Roxb.) Kunth *''Ambrosina spirialis'' (Retz.) Roxb. is a synonym of ''

Cryptocoryne spiralis ''Cryptocoryne spiralis'' is a plant species belonging to the Araceae genus ''Cryptocoryne''. Distribution Endemic to India.Cook, CDK (1996) ''Aquatic and Wetland Plants of India: A reference Book and Identification Manual for the Vascular Plant ...

'' (Retz.) Fisch. ex Wydler *''Ambrosina unilocularis'' Roxb. is a synonym of ''Cryptocoryne retrospiralis'' (Roxb.) Kunth

Ecology

Visitation of inflorescences

The inflorescences are visited by springtails, Embiidae, earwigs, mites of the genera ''Penthaleus'' or ''Bdella'', and millipedes.

Seed dispersal

The seeds are attractive to ants, as the seed is coated in an edible

. Due to this edible coating, the ants disperse the seeds.

Parasite ecology

''Ambrosina'' foliage may be affected by reddish-brown, 0–1 mm large leaf spots caused by the phytopatogenic fungus ''Entylomaster dietelianus'' (Bubák) Vánky & R.G. Shivas (syn. ''Entyloma dietelianum'' Bubák''Entylomaster dietelianus'' (Bubák) Vánky & R.G. Shivas. (2013). Catalogue of Life: 2013 Annual Checklist Indexing the World's Known Species. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2013/details/species/id/8464180). Numerous 10–16 μm large spores are embedded within the leaf spots. This fungal disease is specific to the family Araceae.Willem N. Ellis. (2017). ''Ambrosina bassii'' – Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://bladmineerders.nl/host-plants/plantae/spermatopsida/angiosperma/monocots/alismatales/araceae/aroideae/ambrosina/ambrosina-bassii/W.N. Ellis. (2017). ''Entyloma dietelianum''. Plant Parasites of Europe Leafminers, Galls and Fungi. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/fungi/dikarya/basidiomycota/ustilaginomycotina/exobasidiomycetes/exobasidiomycetidae/entylomatales/entylomataceae/entyloma/entyloma-dietelianum/

Etymology

The generic name ''Ambrosina'' honours the brothers

Bartolomeo Ambrosini Bartolomeo Ambrosini (1588 – 3 February 1657) was an Italian botanist, physician and naturalist, for over thirty years prefect of the Botanical Garden of Bologna and editor of many of the posthumous works of Ulisse Aldrovandi. Biography Bartol ...

(1588–1657) and Giacinto Ambrosini (1605–1671).Troia, A., Schicchi, R., & Geraci, A. (2018)
"Typification of the Linnaean name ''Ambrosinia bassii'' and other nomenclatural remarks in the genus ''Ambrosinia'' (Araceae)."
Taxon, 67(6), 1183–1186.

Conservation

Despite being listed as species of least concern by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is legally protected in France.Franck Le Driant. (n.d.). ''Ambrosinia'' de Bassi. Flore Alpes. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://www.florealpes.com/fiche_ambrosinabassii.php

References

Aroideae Monotypic Araceae genera Flora of Algeria Flora of Tunisia Flora of Italy Flora of Sicily Flora of France Flora of Corsica Flora of Sardinia {{Araceae-stub